Even with my funky glasses, I can see something's fishy

By Ralph De La Cruz Columnist

It all started one terrible Tuesday during our road-trip vacation. In a 24-hour period, our Chrysler Pacifica had to be taken to the shop and I lost my glasses in the surf.

Since then, those two things have seemed to stay strangely linked, having a domino effect. Leaving behind a trail of the lost and broken.

Like stepping on an old piece of gum on a hot day. I can't shake this losing streak.

The car has been in the shop twice more since we got back. It's there now, as I write this.

The first time, Maria was offered a rental car. Being family chauffeur, and trying to get all the back-to-school business done, she gladly accepted.

Alexander climbed aboard the rental with my PSP. He slipped my $200 video game player into a pocket on the passenger door.

The next day, Maria returned the rental. So long, PSP.

This Tuesday -- what's with Tuesdays? -- the engine light in the car came back on. Once again, Maria left the car at the shop. This time with Alexander's cell phone inside.

Same day, I lost $30 cash.

And then there are my glasses.

Being brutally near-sighted and - as I've aged - far-sighted, I freaked out after losing them. Trying to get fast relief, I overreacted and ended up with new contact lenses, a new pair of glasses, as well as my old backup pair.

Only problem is, the contacts and the new glasses don't have bifocals, so I can't see up close with them. The old pair are titanium wonders. But since the day I got them, they've fit crooked on my face. And because titanium apparently can't be reshaped once it's been set, I'm walking around with my head tilted sideways.

So, I figured I'd just put new progressive bifocals into the frames I bought on vacation.

The new glasses were supposed to be ready a week ago Friday. But after three trips to the optical place, I'm still walking around tilty-headed.

I've been promised they'll be ready tomorrow. Sure.

And now, there's the 11th Avenue Swing Bridge.

Three months ago, I stopped there to do a column on the glorious old bridge in the historic area of Fort Lauderdale, and a sweet, kind bridge tender ended up getting fired because of it.

I - and a couple hundred of you - have been fighting to get the tender's job back. The effort seemed to be picking up.

Well, this week I got an e-mail from the city of Fort Lauderdale headlined, "S.W. 11 Avenue Swing Bridge Closed Until Further Notice." It was a one-paragraph statement that said the bridge would be "closed to auto traffic effective immediately until further notice due to safety concerns."

Some readers in the area sent me copies of e-mails they received, which had a bit more information (the entire text is in my blog at Sun-Sentinel.com/papi knowsbest).

"As a result of the bridge failure in Minnesota, Governor Crist directed an immediate re-inspection of bridges in Florida of a similar type, i.e., steel truss bridges," said the e-mail.

"FDOT notified the City on August 20, 2007 that the SW 11 Avenue swing bridge has critical structural deficiencies and the bridge's posted five-ton weight limit is not being heeded ... FDOT did not require the bridge to be closed, however in order to ensure public safety, the City Engineer has recommended closure effective immediately until further structural investigations can be completed."

Considering everything in my life seems broken, or lost, you can be sure I'll keep a close eye on this.

I'm no conspiracy theorist. But the timing seems . . . well, let's just say it's plausible everything played out just the way the city says. But I don't want the Minnesota bridge collapse to become a handy excuse to get rid of an iconic bridge that's become a headache, if not an embarrassment.

It may be broke. But I'm going to do my best to make sure we don't lose it.

Ralph De La Cruz can be reached at rdelacruz@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4727.